Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has said the government has taken all-out measures to stop smuggling of hides of sacrificial animals.
He said: “We will not let anyone smuggling the hides of sacrificial animals. The government has already taken all-out steps to prevent it.”
The minister made the statement while visiting the cattle market in the capital Gabtoli area Wednesday, two days ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha.
Read more: Rawhide prices likely to be set lower this year
Replying to the queries of journalists, the minister further said: “People's security is the main concern of the government and this time we have taken strict measures in this regard.”
Eid-ul-Azha, the second biggest religious occasion of Muslims, is set to be celebrated on Friday. Sacrificing animal is a must-do ritual in the eid.
Almost 50% of annual rawhide collection takes place during Eid-ul-Azha when a large number of animals are slaughtered by Muslims in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) had set a target to collect 4-5m pieces of rawhide this year.
According to the BTA, Bangladesh slaughtered over 6m cows and 3.5m goats on last Eid-ul-Azha.
The association set price of cow rawhide at Tk65-70 per square feet for Dhaka and Tk60-65 for the areas outside Dhaka last year.
The goat hide price was set at Tk30-35 per square feet for Dhaka and Tk25-30 for outside Dhaka.
This year, tanners will buy cow hide at Tk 50-55 per square foot in Dhaka and Tk 40-45 in the rest of the county this year, lowering the rate for straight second year.
According to market insiders, the global rawhide prices plunged by 33% in last six months.
Take a look: Half of last year’s rawhide still remain unsold
According to the EPB data, in the last fiscal year the export earnings from the leather and leather products marked a meagre growth by 0.56% to $1.13bn, which was $1.12bn in the previous year.
The leather export declined by 21.36% to $397.54m, while leather products export rose by 3.78% to $249m in the fiscal.
However, the leather footwear posted a robust growth by 27.81% to $484m, which was $378.5m a year ago.
